Hello All,
been looking for an all weather car for the family,we have two 740's and we are in the process of purchasing a 1999 or later S70 AWD,I know alot about the 740's but have no clue about the 850 or S70 AWD or S60 AWD versions.If I can get some input on what to look for upon inspection on some known problems before a purchase I would greatly appreciate it.
Scott

Do a search for "Bevel Gear" or "Angle Gear" ($$$$) and "Evaporator" ($$$). There's also the AT, and the usual Volvo electrical failures.

The FWD-AWD cars are completely different animals from the RWD Volvos.

-BTC

'98 V70 T5M, 149k mi, IPD stabilizer bars, Bilstein HD, Volvo strut tower brace and skidplate, e-codes

I would ask, why do you want an AWD? The Volvo AWD system in the earlier years was awkward at best. My parents have a 99 and although it is a good car with 160 K on it, it has had the bevel gear and tranny replaced. The AWD system puts alot of stress on components and replacing that bevel gear is expensive...Just try pushing an AWD in neutral and you will see how much drag the AWD is.

I hate the way they drive and fuel mileage is not good. Having driving my 99 S70 front wheel drive in every conceivable type of weather, through feet of snow, skiing every weekend, I would stay away from the complexity and expense of AWD. Stick with FWD and put on a good pair of snow tires.

My two cents.

John

99 S70 5 speed. 122,000

99 and 00 have teething problems with the management systems, 01 and later are better, you still have to deal with vadis. the awds can leak and get noisy in the bevel gear case, as can the 850 awds. have someone who is fluent in volvo go over it before purchase. awd can mean actual wallet drain. good luck, chuck.

I concur with the other posts.

I was also looking into purchasing an AWD S 70 early model and i heard nothing but bad things about Volvos AWD systems. The S70 body style was not originally designed to have an awd system, therefore the early models had a ton of problems.

IMO the newer AWD models like the cross country still have issues with the sway bars wearing out.

I would stay away from the 2000 models. Volvo had a ton of engine management issues.

The 1998 model year has been the better of the lot if you are looking for one. Or go for the 2001+ model years.

Plus if you ever had a flat you could not go more than 10 miles (i think) on the spare and chance ruining your awd system.

My suggestion get a regular S/V 70 and get snow tires. Nokians Hakapaledas (sp) are aweseome in the snow or the NR is a good all season excellent snow tire. You can get steel black rims for dirt cheap online.